Dietary Inclusion of Neem (Azadirachta indica) Leaf Meal Can Influence Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chickens

A feeding trial was conducted for 56days to investigate the effect of neem (Azadirachta indica) leaf meal on the growth performance and carcass traits of broiler chickens. The neem leaf meal was used in replacing parts of wheat offal in the diets of 192 day-old broiler chickens fed ad libitum at 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3% levels of inclusion. The experimental birds were randomly distributed into four treatments. Each treatment was sub-divided into three replicates of sixteen (16) birds. Medications were administered only to the birds in treatment 1(control group) while vaccination was administered across the treatment during the course of the experiment. Growth parameters were taken on weekly basis and data obtained were subjected to one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) in a completely randomized design. There was a significant (P<0.05) effect of varying dietary inclusion of NLM only on average weight gain among the birds at the starter phase. Groups fed 0.3% NLM recorded the highest average weight gain (430.63g) as against 421.00, 392.57 and 394.97g recorded for the control, 0.1% and 0.2% NLM groups, respectively. Neem leaf meal had nosignificant (P<0.05) effect on broiler performance at the finisher phase across the treatment groups. Mortality was not affected (P>0.05) at any of the growth phases. Carcass traits; cut-parts (except neck) and organs showed no influence (P>0.05) of NLM inclusion. It can then be recommended that the neem leaf meal inclusion up to 0.3% in the diets of the broiler chickens can be used as growth promoters during the chick phase of growth.

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The Effect of Replacing Dried Meal Worm with Soybean Meal on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Broiler Chickens

10.21203/rs.3.rs-782326/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Navid Naderi Boroojerdi ◽

Mostafa Rajabzadeh

Keyword(s):

Growth Performance ◽

Soybean Meal ◽

Broiler Chickens ◽

Relative Weight ◽

Carcass Characteristics ◽

Basal Diet ◽

Control Treatment ◽

Broiler Chicks ◽

Feed Conversion ◽

Significant Difference

Abstract An experiment was conducted on 240 one-day old male (Ross308) chicken to the effect of substitution of dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) with soybean meal on growth performance and carcass characteristics broiler chicks. Chicks fed in a completely randomized design with 4 replicate cages (12 birds per cage). Five dietary treatments used: 1- Control treatment: Basal diet based on corn-soybean meal without adding dried mealworm, 2- Replacement of 5% dried mealworm with soybean meal in the base diet, 3- Replacement of 10% dried mealworm with soybean meal in the base diet, 4- Replacement of 15% dried mealworm with soybean meal in the base diet and 5- Replacement of 20% dried mealworm with soybean meal in the base diet. The results of the experiment showed that 3rd and 4th treatments with a substitution of 10 and 15 percent showed a higher mean weight gain and a daily gain, but their feed intake was lower comparing other treatments, and finally, the feed conversion ratio showed a significant decrease with respect to control treatment using these replacement levels. At 21 and 42 days of age, carcass yield and relative weight of the breasts showed significant increases in treatments 3 and 4, and other characteristics of chicken carcasses were not affected by the test treatments. The experiment showed that replacing soybean meal with 10% and 15% worm powder significantly improved the performance of broiler chickens, but no significant difference was found between the two levels.

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